Relationships between the internationalization and operations strategies decisions of multinational companies in the soybean chain

Abstract Internationalization decision-making relates to the location of subsidiaries while international operations define the configuration and coordination of the processing plant activities. This paper aims to identify how internationalization strategies are related to operation strategies decisions. We illustrate this relationship with two case studies of multinational companies in the soybean chain located in Brazil. The analysis of secondary data, on-site visit to the processing plants and interviews, suggest that the location is determinant to all the other strategic operations decision categories. Findings suggest that the study framework is useful to understand international operations in other commodities chains.